A Season of Change: Autumn
by ChimericalParoxysm
Summary: Sirius receives some bad news... and some good news.


A/N: Written in response to Rosalie'sRevenge's Four Seasons Competition. This is for the Autumn prompt, with Sirius and Bellatrix as the characters :)

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Sirius revved his motorcycle and grinned as though it was the absolute sweetest sound in the world—and certainly he thought it was. The autumn scents mingled tantalizingly with the smell of worn leather and gasoline. He'd always loved the fall. He could remember with perfect detail meeting James on the Hogwarts Express, each flooded with anticipation and nerves. From that moment on, the changing of the leaves and the cooling of the breeze brought to mind fun, and pranks, and recklessness, and Sirius revelled in it. Even now that he was out of school, the season still signalled for him a time of possibility, and he couldn't help but feel particularly uplifted.

"What're you laughing about?" asked a feminine voice at his back.

"Just memories, love."

She grinned into his jacket and wrapped her arms about his waist. "Alright, keep your secrets, but let's go—we're going to be late."

He chuckled. "As you wish, milady."

When he stopped in front of the Leaky Cauldron, Emmeline slid smoothly from the back of the bike and offered her hand to him chivalrously. Sirius accepted it with a smile, slipping his fingers through hers, and leading the way into the dark establishment.

"Oi! Over here!" James' voice flew from across the room. Sirius looked just in time to see Lily punching him in the shoulder, probably for "making a scene."

"Two Butterbeers, Tom, if you don't mind," Emmeline called as they slid into the booth.

"I love the fall!" Sirius proclaimed, feeling a surge of joy just at _being_.

Remus laughed. "Fall's almost over, Sirius, it'll be December in a week."

He nodded gravely. "And thus, I must make the most of it while it lasts."

"You remember that snowball fight in seventh?" James grinned.

"Yeah! We _trounced_ the girls!"

Lily and Alice rolled their eyes. "So, Em, how's training the dog going?"

She leaned over and kissed Sirius' cheek by way of response, all three girls laughing when he reflexively replied with a, "Love you."

"Ooh. _Very_ impressive."

The boys were well caught-up in their reminiscences, something that seemed to happen a lot lately. With the threat of the war looming over them, the urge to live in past moments of joy was strong, and they found solace in recalling their time at Hogwarts. Far be it for their women to interfere. Instead, they engaged in their own light-hearted conversation, finding their comfort instead in looking to the future.

Alice pulled her hand from beneath the table with a mischievous grin, the other two instantly gasping.

"Oh it's _gorgeous_," Lily breathed.

"When did Frank propose?"

Alice smiled, basking in the perfection of the moment. "Just last night. It was so sweet."

"C'mon! Details, woman!" demanded the fiery red-head.

"Oh, you know, roses and the romantic dinner—he even had music playing. It was all so horribly cliché, but that's just how he is and you know," she said softly, a faraway look on her face, "somehow it all just felt absolutely right."

The girls sighed dreamily. "That's so sweet," they said together, then promptly dissolved into silly giggles.

Frank had flushed a bright red as the men tuned into their conversation. "Congratulations, mate," James said jovially, clapping him on the back. "Now you and I've just got to work on these last two lugs."

Remus rolled his eyes. "I hardly think I'll be getting married anytime soon."

"That's right!" Sirius jumped in, pleased that the comment had been deflected from himself, "First we've got to get the man a girl." He glanced in mock speculation around the dingy room.

"Speaking of news," Lily interrupted, casting a meaningful look at her husband.

"Yeah! We've got something to tell you all!" James was almost bouncing in his excitement.

"You're _not_!" Emmeline exclaimed happily.

"We _are_!" Lily squealed back.

"Bloody hell! Congratulations!" Alice shouted.

The girls manoeuvred themselves into an awkward, cross-table group hug, and Sirius looked blankly from male to male, each looking just as perplexed as he felt. His gaze rested finally upon James who, rather than looking confused, seemed to be pleased by the girls' reactions. "What the bloody hell just happened?"

Remus and Frank nodded their support of the question.

James' grinning face dropped slightly in disappointment, and then rebounded faster than lightning. "We're having a baby!"

"A _baby_?" A dark, female voice slipped over their table. "How _lovely_, Potters. I suppose I ought to congratulate you all."

Sirius' face darkened, and the joy fled the faces of his companions. "Lose yourself, Bella, before someone does it for you." He turned in his seat to face her.

"Oh, I'm injured," she sneered, flicking her hair over her shoulder.

He stood up, towering over her. "Get. Lost," he commanded, his voice low and dangerous.

A grin spread across her face. "I shan't, cousin dear, I've come to deliver unto you some absolutely _delicious_ gossip."

Trepidation flooded his veins and his eyes became wary. News, from Bella, couldn't ever possibly be good, and the delight in her voice only further reaffirmed this.

"I don't have time for your games, _cousin_. If you've got something to say, then say it, and bugger off."

"Well, if you're going to be _rude_ about it," she pouted, "Perhaps you don't need to know."

For her to be playing like this couldn't only mean one thing, really, and that was death. It was with great reluctance that he replied, "Who, Bella? Just tell me who."

"Wittle Reggie!" she cackled gleefully. "Like a trapped little mouse."

Emmeline was by his side in an instant, one hand slipping around his waist, the other brandishing her wand. Behind her, everyone else had stood, their wands out. "Bye, Bella," she said sweetly. "So _good_ of you to come."

Bellatrix just laughed. "Toodles, then!"

Sirius collapsed back onto the bench as his cousin danced merrily out the doors. The silence was deafening.

"Sirius," Emmeline finally began, tentatively, "Sirius, did you want—"

"I'm fine," he growled, for all that there were tears in his eyes.

"Perhaps we ought to toast—"

"I'm _not_ going to toast a filthy _Death Eater_, Remus." His voice was harsh, and Remus fell instantly silent.

The women exchanged a desperate look. "A toast then—," Alice raised her voice above Sirius' objection, "to Lily and James, and their future baby."

His eyes lifted from the table, and a weak smile slid onto his face. "That's definitely something worth drinking to. Congratulations, mate."

A moment later they each, save Lily, were raising a Firewhiskey to their lips. "To Lily and James," Alice said.

"To our son," James grinned.

"To the future," Sirius added, determinedly.

Emmeline swallowed hard. "May it be as beautiful as our past."

Sirius knocked back his liquor but he couldn't help but feel that the autumn breeze that flooded through the door had somehow lost some of its sweetness.


End file.
